When Jolie Met Christie

Axis Arts Centre, Ballymun, Dublin

Al Jolson never actually met Christie Hennessy, who was just five years old when Jolson died. But would the steely showman whose now-notorious blackface routine made him an American star have found much in common with a shy Irish balladeer with a canny ear for jazz and blues? Not particularly, answers Seán McCarthy’s new work for Axis, which makes Jolson narrate Hennessy’s story from the afterlife.

If the connection between musicians seems tenuous, their discrepancy provides some necessary friction in an otherwise earnest musical tribute. Jolson’s savvy operator – “popular in public, never in private” – allows director Ray Yeates to illustrate Hennessy’s unlikely position in a cut-throat industry. But Hennessy’s natural diffidence, remarkable lack of edge and the production’s deep reverence towards him, makes Jolson a far more interesting, conflicted figure.

In the amiable shape of Aonghus McAnally, who plays both parts, a twinkling Hennessy anticipates the problem, slyly telling Jolson that, whatever he reports, “You’re going to find something in your own story to top it.” More mimic here than actor, McAnally is required to perform slalom-pole shifts between characters, performance modes and musical styles. Leaning hard on Hennessy’s identifiable traits – his accent, inviting smile and protective demeanour – McAnally gives us a pleasing surface impression and the play seems similarly unwilling to probe too deeply.

Painting a brisk picture of the illiterate boy who left school at 11, the building site labourer in 1960s London and the balladeer rocked by the 1974 Birmingham bombing, McCarthy softly retreats from the aftermath of Hennessy’s near breakdown and cleaves, sometimes verbatim, to Hennessy’s achingly modest later self-assessment.

It is a respectful portrait of a man who seemed too artless for showbusiness: Jolson says, "it's all a cheat – so long as it's from the heart". This show, though, is all heart; and though some songs, such as Roll Back The Clouds, adhere to a theme ("Tell me, sir/ Just how far/ I need to go,/ To be a star") others ( Don't Forget Your Shovel, Messenger Boy) are included because McAnally, musical director Ivan McKenna and vocalist/violinist Lia Wright couldn't have left them out. Ultimately, it's the music that does the talking. One suspects that's how Hennessy would have liked it.

Until March 12